TT 



SERMON 

AjV^ —of the — 

Rev. s. j. 'Mcpherson, d. d., 



■TO THE — 



FIRST GRADUATING CLASS 



— OF THE — 



CHICAGO MANUALTRAINING SCHOOL 



DELIVERED IN THE 



IT 



SECOND PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, 









Sabbath Evening, June 20, 1886. 



WITH APPENDICES, 



CHICAGO, ILL. : 

Jameson & Morse Company, Printers, 162 & 164 South Clark Street,. 

1886. 



16 -3/ f 



and OPttlturje atid (Rtaractcr. 



Text: — "And let the beauty of the Lord be upon us; and establish thou the 
work of our hands upon us; yea, the work of our hands establish thou it." 
— Ps. xc, i?. 

There is said to be a twofold tradition that this verse and 
the one preceding were the original prayer offered by Moses 
as a blessing upon the completed tabernacle and its orna- 
ments, and that subsequently he employed them as the usual 
formula of benediction upon any finished work or career. 
They certainly furnish a fitting doxology to pronounce upon 
consummated enterprises. They are specially suited to be 
the motto and the ideal of both the patrons and the gradu- 
ates of our fine Manual Training School, in whose first 
Commencement we have the privilege of bearing an honor- 
able part to-night. The emphasis which they put upon the 
work of the hands is characteristic of the whole Bible, which 
habitually speaks of the hand as the representative and in- 
strument of all intelligent activity. The hand of God stands 
in Scripture for his sovereignty and his providence, his 
mercy and grace, his tireless omnipotence and his resistless 
efficiency. Man's hand is the scriptural symbol of his 
cleansing and his consecration, his kindness and friendship, 
his daily industry and his acquired skill. This large place 
given to hand-culture in Holy Writ, shows us that man's 
manual training is a novelty not in its conception, but in its 
more thorough modern organization, in its multiplying tools 
and appliances, and in its increasing applications to the uses 
and conveniences of human life. 

I. It should be a matter of profound congratulation 
that our age, more than any one preceding, is learning to 



appreciate the immense scope and reach of organized hand- 
culture. Modern prophets not only remember, like Ezekiel, 
that there appears in the cherubim the form of a man's hand 
under their wings (Ezek. x: 8), but discern also, with Elijah's 
servant, the sign of future blessing in the little cloud which 
ariseth like a man's hand (Kings xviii:44). It seems to me 
a great blessing that the world is growing more practical in 
its education as well as in its life. For the practical rather 
than the theoretical is the real criterion of manhood. Art 
is in this respect greater than science; for science confines 
itself to knowing, while true art must both know and do. 
The hand, therefore, is a final test of the brain, and even of 
the heart. What I can do, is the most easily accessible evi- 
dence of what I am. 

Hence, it is a beneficent tendency of our modern educa- 
tion, that we are beginning to deal more directly with 
things, and less with the mere ideas or pale copies of things. 
The maxim of Comenius is sound: " Let those things that 
have to be done, be learned by doing them." It gives 
reality to education, and falls in line with the methods of 
nature and the necessities of actual life. Intuition, educa- 
tion and performance thus trace a scale of natural ascent. 
The child literally becomes father of the man. The nursery, 
the kindergarten, the manual training school, and later ex- 
perience, are all graduated upward with normal consistency, 
each one growing causatively out of its predecessor. We 
would not have any of the influences of philosophical cult- 
ure belittled, but we would have the practical powers en- 
larged. Instead of neglecting the cultivation of the intel- 
lect and the conscience, we would complete their cultivation 
by giving them practical effect in daily life and character. 
Truth is in order to goodness. Life reveals itself in act, 
and character shows itself in conduct. 

In pursuing these objects, there is every reason not to 
disdain the plain, rudimentary requirement of getting a 
living. We must know how to work, as well as how to 
read, write and cipher. In order to live, we must first sur- 



5 

vive; first that which is natural, and then that which is spir- 
itual. Of course, if we are fitted only to survive, we shall 
not rise above the fellowship of the stronger brutes; yet 
even the heaven that is designed to be the permanent home 
of perfected men, is reached by the stepping-stone of the 
earth. As the body is the organ, and in a sense the balance- 
wheel, of the soul, we must first make a living in order to 
learn how to live. 

The ancient Hebrews, therefore, were wiser than we, in 
compelling all men, however rich, erudite or consecrated, 
to learn a trade. They recognized the hand as the natural 
instrument of humanity, the organ by which a grasp could 
be obtained of life and the powers of man could be actually 
exerted to subdue nature and to make himself master. Ef- 
ficienc) 7 , as well as handiness and versatility, has character- 
ized them. At least they have always been leaders in trade, 
without surrendering power in learning, art or government. 

Manual training is a truly civilizing agent also, because 
it practically demonstrates the dignity of labor. I do not 
see how any Christian nation can tolerate snobs, when 
Jesus Christ was a carpenter and St. Paul begrimed and 
hardened his hands with the greasy work of tent-making. 
They were the most perfect gentlemen of all history, and 
yet they knew how to use tools. This ability gave them 
independence and usefulness, which are certainly as clear 
tokens of gentility as finger-nails polished by a manicure, 
or idleness which tempts the devil, or a lineage which may 
begin with a predatory cattle-thief or a feudal murderer. 
This ability was a measure of human power in them, and 
power is not to be scorned by any ambitious race. It was, 
moreover, a mode not merely of making their living, but 
of blessing society. The Lord of life perhaps put honest, 
skilled labor into some of the residences of Nazareth; and 
certainly Paul ministered to the necessities of others by 
means of his handicraft (Acts xx: 34). All true work is 
beneficent, and so far aristocratic. " Withhold not good 
from them to whom it is due when it is in the power of 
thine hand to do it" (Prov. iii: 27). 



6 

r 

I cannot feel sure, however, that it is altogether unnec- 
essary to interject a caution at this point. While most peo- 
ple do not fully appreciate the benefits of manual training, 
a very few appear to be in danger of exaggerating them, 
because they are enamored of it as a new thing. These 
few may be tempted to institute odious comparisons. 
They may be blind to the limitations of manual training, 
and failing to perceive that it is, after all, only one side 
of education, however neglected, they may be tempted 
to conjure with it as a charm which is to dispel all the ills of 
mankind — sociaj, intellectual and moral. They are modern 
idolaters; "they worship the work of their own hands" (Isa. 
ii: 8). But inasmuch as the utility of manual training is 
still far from being realized by the community at large, we 
may safely leave these excesses of enthusiasts to cure them- 
selves while we strive to widen its sphere until it adequately 
fills the place which it deserves as a part of our public school 
system. 

II. It is time, however, to speak more particularly of 
the relation of manual training to character. For of course 
character is of necessity the chief aim of all true education. 
I am delighted, therefore, with the motto of your school: 
" Mente atque manu ad virtutem." For it assumes as fun- 
damental precisely the ideal and the order of training which 
I, as a Christian minister, would advocate. 

i. It assumes, first, that all the faculties of our human 
nature, manual, mental and moral, are closely correlated. 
No power is to be neglected, and none is to be dispropor- 
tionately developed. If the body is forced or neglected, the 
man becomes either a brutal athlete or a bestial sensualist. 
If the mind is forced or neglected, the man becomes an in- 
tellectual visionary, perhaps a mere vaporing idiot. If the 
conscience is forced or neglected, the man becomes a morbid 
casuist or a stoical indifferentist. In order to produce an 
educated man, all these powers are to be developed harmon- 
iously. The division of labor which is required by the exi- 
gencies of our complicated civilization, may compel each man 



to keep some one special faculty in the foreground of his 
activity; but in the interests of his own balanced education, 
total character must be his object. The blacksmith, for exam- 
ple, whose work builds up his arms, must see that voluntary 
exercise keeps his legs from becoming spindles; the student 
whose thought enlarges his cerebrum, must insist with him- 
self upon exercising his muscles; the clergyman, who deals 
with morals and religion, must not suffer either body^'or 
mind to languish. As our lesson to-night, in I Corinthians 
xii intimates, there are many members, but one man. Each 
member needs to be supplemented by the help of all the 
others, lest manhood, the true object of education, should 
be lost in the specialty. 

2. Then observe, that as the conscience is enthroned 
above the mind, and God is over all, the mind super- 
vises the work of the hand. In your motto, mind and 
hand are united by a significant conjunctive. It is at que 
and not et. Mind and hand are not co-ordinated on a 
level. They are closely knit together, yet so that mind 
is the superior. The same thing is indicated by your 
course of work and study. Drawing has a large place, as 
if to indicate that taste and judgment, skill and forethought 
are to be specially cultivated. A good part of your work is 
done with books, in purely intellectual and contemplative 
activity. Even in your shop-work, the worker is still a stu- 
dent. If he uses his hands, without using his brains, he 
must be a bungler, not only as a thinker, but also as a han- 
dicraftsman. 

3. Thirdly, your motto suggests that this manual 
training is directly related to good morals. It is all "ad 
virtutem;" and virtue, as all men know, is manhood, the 
chief matter of character. In this phrase, then (ad vir- 
tutem), we have a whole cluster of precious hints. The first 
is, that you are working towards an ideal, the characteristic 
always of a moral being. The future must be kept in your 
mind's eye, and also in the eye of your hand. The charac- 
ter of your work and of your training will be revealed by 



the returns which it makes to you in character. As Solo- 
mon says (Prov. xii: 14), " The doings of a man's hands 
shall be rendered unto him." Man is not a machine that 
operates merely for the present results in work. Man is an 
agent, whose chief value is intrinsic, and whose usefulness 
is mainly found in what he is. The man does not exist for 
the sake of the work, but the work is given an existence for 
the sake of the man. 

Moreover, this ideal, ad virtutem, is expressly moral. It 
is not mere muscular force that you are seeking as a final 
goal. It is not even mental power. It is ethical quality 
and ethical influence. Great as are the mechanic arts or the 
pure products of intellect, they are, after all, nothing more 
than tools in the hands of conscience. The question of civ- 
ilization is not whether we are becoming more comfortable 
or more powerful, but whether we are becoming better. We 
must put the emphasis, even of manual training, not upon 
those enjoyments or achievements which either animals or 
devils could share with us, but upon those characteristics 
which we can share with the citizens of heaven. 

This idea is borne out by the fact that manual training 
is largely designed to render us both familiar with law and 
obedient to it. Manual training is a practical success when it 
enables us to harness the laws of nature to the highest uses 
of man. Natural law and moral law, however, are not two 
provinces, but one; moral law is the supremacy of spiritual 
forces in the natural world, We have no more right to ex- 
pect immunity in transgressing one of the Ten Command- 
ments than in defying a law of health or the law of gravita- 
tion. The same unyielding sanctions and the same unchange- 
able Judge are behind them all. If, then, our manual training 
does not fix in us acquiesence toward moral law, it is a fail- 
ure, even if it should make us as great inventors as Stephen- 
son, or Bessemer, or Edison. 

Then, too, manual training is primarily designed to make 
■men useful, by enabling them to benefit the world. It must, 
therefore, be directed against selfishness, the great moral 



9 

disease of the world. We are all doctors. The artizan or 
engineer is a doctor of mechanics, as truly as the great 
writer is a doctor of literature, or the jurist is a doctor of 
laws, or the physician is a doctor of medicine, or the preacher 
is a doctor of divinity. We should be doctors, too, not 
simply because we are more or less learned in our several 
departments, but because each one seeks to use his own 
specialty as a remedy for the disease of mankind. That is 
to say, each specialty has affinities with the law of unselfish 
love which is Christ's synonym for perfect character. Con- 
sequently no graduate of a manual training school can es- 
cape developing moral character in connection with his edu- 
cation; for his training is certain to mould some kind of 
character out of the raw materials of his nature, and his 
character will be moral or immoral, in quality and influence, 
according to his guidance and use of it. 

III. Since hand-culture has such relations to character, 
it must also sustain vital relations to God. In the text, 
Moses prays that the beauty of the Lord our God may be 
upon his character, in establishing the work of his hands. 
Moses was superbly cultivated in the art and science of the 
most civilized nation of his day, but he was equally enlight- 
ened with reference to the higher facts of true religion. He 
was not blind towards either half of the sphere of truth. 
The spiritual and the natural were the upper and lower 
hemispheres of his culture. Obviously, therefore, he was 
mindful of the special reasons for keeping God's influence in 
union with manual, as well as mental and moral, training. 

I. One of these reasons, no doubt, he found in the fact 
that the hand is a peculiarly striking evidence of God's de- 
signing power in nature. It is a tool manufactured by divine 
mechanics. Man, whom Carlyle describes as "a tool-using 
animal," has made the axe, the saw, the plane, the file, the 
square, the chisel and the hammer, for the use of the hand; 
and, as Sir Charles Bell has abundantly shown in his famous 
"Bridgewater Treatise," God has made the hand, as well as 
the eye, the ear, the tongue and the foot, for the use of man. 



10 

Every stroke, motion and gesture of the hand, every man- 
ual exercise, is a direct reminder of the divine Creator. It 
is not surprising, then, that the artificer of the tabernacle, 
inspired, as he was, by God, was a man that prayed. The 
wonder of worship ought to be spontaneous with every one 
that becomes skillful in the use of God's tools. God "seal- 
eth up the hand of every man," says Job (xxxvii: 7), "that 
all men may know his work." 

2. Another reason for recognizing God in manual effi- 
ciency is, that God alone can give permanence to our works. 
Moses voices the longing of every heart when he prays that 
the works of the hands may be established. We want the 
product of our skill to endure after we are gone. We de- 
sire to see them survive the changing influences of earth. 
Where shall we look for such survival in this transitory 
world except in the persistence of character? And who 
shall give us this permanence unless it be the unchangeable 
One, who alone can confer immortality? 

3. Another uplook in manual training is prompted by 
the consideration that its ventures can be successful only so 
far as they are in accordance with law; and law is eternal. 
We shall never cease to reckon with it. All things work 
together for good to those who love God, to those who see 
things from his view-point, and who sympathize with his 
government. But there is no hidden corner in the universe 
where rebels and outlaws can escape from the destruction of 
God's resistless and uniform and righteous modes of proced- 
ure. Science and art are well fitted to assure us that with- 
out Him we can do nothing. 

4. Especially, the disciples of manual training find their 
model and master in Jesus Christ, the well-beloved Son of 
God. He is manly as well as divine. He is a worker, like 
his Heavenly Father. He deals with realities; he is the 
truth. His life is persistently practical, yet his ideal is aw- 
ful in its loftiness. More than any other leader, he takes 
note of every element in man, and leaves no element out of 
the purview of his scheme of education. He uses material 



11 

things as the incarnation and shadow and organ of spiritual. 
He sees the relations of things as truly as things themselves, 
and is never, therefore, in danger of exaggerations or ex- 
cesses. He teaches the supremacy of conscience and the 
unselfish law of love. He binds society together by the 
beneficent influence of his marvelous usefulness, and he is 
always full of the consciousness of God. On such princi- 
ples as these, he makes the world a school for men as well 
as for boys. How can manual training, more than religion 
itself, be successful without him? How can any department 
of life prosper without his guidance, his defense, his bless- 
ing and his care? 

Young gentlemen of the graduating class: You have pa- 
tiently listened to my message, instinct at once with my 
convictions and with my congratulations. On the eve of 
your graduation, I am sure that your hearts are stirred with 
deep gratitude to your wise and generous patrons of the 
Commercial Club, who have filled your past three years with 
high privileges. You go forth now into the community to 
demonstrate, by your work and your character, whether this 
experiment of theirs and yours is to be successful or not. 
You cannot help being marked men. The fate of this plan 
of education will depend largely upon what you do and what 
you are. You have a fine opportunity and a grave respon- 
sibility in determining the nature of the educational meth- 
ods at least of our city. God grant that you may be manu- 
ally industrious, intellectually alert, morally worthy, and 
allied spiritually with Jesus Christ. I have counted it a rare 
privilege to address you; I shall watch your careers with 
eager interest; and I dismiss you with my most hearty and 
devout good wishes. 



12 



APPENDICES. 

I. Extracts from the Annual Report of Mr. E. W. Blatchford, 
President of the Board of Trustees, to the Chicago Manual 
Training School Association. 

II. Reports of Co?nmittees of Experts appointed to examine the 
Drawing and Shop-worh of the Pupils of the Chicago Ma?i- 
ual Training School. 

III. Brief Statement of Pupils' Work exhibited. 

IV. Order of Exercises, and Award of Prizes, at the First Grad- 

uating Exercises of the School. 

V. Names of Class of 1886. 



13 



[. 



Extracts from the Annual Report of Mr. E. W. Blatchford, President of 
the Board of Trustees, to the Chicago Manual Training School Association, 
June 1 6, 1886. 

Members of the Chicago Manual Training School Associa- 
tion, and Gentlemen of the Commercial Club : 
In the regular course of our history, to-day occurs the 
third Annual Meeting of our Association. In a week our 
first class will have completed the prescribed curriculum of 
study and practice; will receive diplomas as testimonials 
thereof, voted by your Trustees, and will enter, some the 
College or the University, more the higher polytechnic 
schools of our country; while the large majority will step 
from these rooms into that circuit of activity and influence 
which we denominate practical life, — an arena in which in- 
dividual character will be the element of success or failure, 
in which every one must bear his own burden; where, re- 
gardless of the accidental aid of wealth, or the prejudice of 
poverty, the event will be determined by the discipline 
given to, and the use made of, the body, mind and soul 
entrusted by our Creator to every human being. Resultant 
from this discipline and use, if true, issue life's noblest suc- 
cess and honor: if false, life's poignant failure and dishonor. 
To this view, history and observation bear concurrent testi- 
mony. And having stated this fact, I know that I speak 
the sentiments of my colleagues when I express the sense 
of responsibility that ijests upon them, and the earnest de- 
sire they cherish that the work of this school should in 
every regard develop and strengthen every noble endow- 
ment, aspiration and possibility of each of the students who 
shall gather there. 

It is now but two and one-half years since the actual 
educational work of this school began, and but a year back 



14 

of this that the movement toward its establishment was ini- 
tiated. I have now one of the original copies of the Re- 
port of the Committee of the Commercial Club "to prepare 
and report a plan of organization of the school. " It was a 
brief document presented by the committee, but it was 
comprehensive. The simple, educational necessity that the 
cultivation of the eye and the skill of the hand be added to, 
and carried along, pari passu, with the ordinary grammar 
and high-school course, was about what was aimed at. This 
seemed a large wOrk, and it at once became an engrossing 
one; but it required time to reveal the intricacies of the 
problem to be solved, and the real difficulties to be encoun- 
tered, before the object should be attained. 

Does the work thus far accomplished seem meagre? Let 
the brevity of time, the untried circumstances ever attend- 
ing a new enterprise, and the novelty of the work devolved 
upon you Trustees be borne in mind. And be assured that 
the favorable results thus far realized, while gratefully recog- 
nized, are far short of our desires and efforts. 

Were there time on this occasion, it might prove of in- 
terest, as it certainly would of value, to give with some de- 
tail the history of these early years of our institution. The 
initial points and slow beginnings of an enterprise yield val- 
uable lessons: and this whether the enterprise undertaken 
be mercantile, educational, or religious in its character. I 
might speak briefly of the special difficulties met with in 
the organization and early conduct of a school of this char- 
acter. 

I . The difficulty of obtaining suitable teachers for the 
Drawing Department and for the Workshops. The instruc- 
tion in drawing specially demanded in our school is that 
known as free-hand and mechanical; whereas, in ordinary 
schools, the drawing instruction is almost wholly artistic in 
its character. Our special work would be apparent could 
you contrast our drawings of machinery-construction and 
architecture with the exhibitions of other schools. 



15 

In shop-work the problem has been to secure men who 
combined the qualities of the mechanic and the teacher. It 
is not difficult to find carpenters, blacksmiths and machin- 
ists thoroughly accomplished as mechanics; but such men, 
not possessing the education, faculty, or experience which 
would enable them to communicate the knowledge and skill 
aimed at in a school of this character, generally fail as 
teachers. 

2. A second difficulty experienced in the early years of 
the school has been a misunderstanding on the part of many 
parents and boys as to the true character and object of the 
school. Many supposed that the exercises were to be lim- 
ited to hand- work; others imagined that the shop-work 
would be simple recreation: the first being unmindful of the 
ordinary strict class-room exercises here conducted, and the 
second unaware that every hour of shop- work should be an 
hour of careful study of principles and their applications. 

The fact that the schools, owing to delay in the com- 
pletion of the building, commenced on the fourth day of 
February, the middle of the ordinary school year, enhanced 

these difficulties. 
######## 

And now, my friends, briefly, yet perhaps as fully as 
time permits, have we spoken of this school. Much more 
of interest might be said regarding its history, its proper 
sphere in the future; the influence exerted on individual 
pupils, and through them on families; and I may add, also, 
regarding vital points in this mode of education. I trust 
that at some future time we may be permitted to listen to 
some one able to comprehend this subject in its broad rela- 
tions, and clearly to present it. 

May I add a brief word? 

i. In full remembrance of the object in view when we 
organized this school; of the wishes and hopes expressed 
by some of our members, whose munificent gifts secured 
its foundation; of the clear presentation of the necessities 
of such a school on that evening when our Commercial 



16 

Club as a body were first aroused to the importance of the 
subject; and conscious, too, of points in which the school 
has not yet fully attained our wishes and expectations, I 
may yet say that in the quality of the work thus far accom- 
plished; in the moral standard maintained; in the influence 
of the school at home and abroad, and in the basis laid for 
enlarged future usefulness, the school may be deemed a 
success. 

2. When I reflect upon the educational work here car- 
ried forward day by day, where abstract study with wise 
adjustment is mingled with practical exercises of the eye 
and the hand; and when I endeavor to estimate the value 
of this work, not only to the pupils themselves, but to oth- 
ers as these influences are reproduced, and impressed upon 
other minds, I am more than ever convinced that the best 
gift to a city is not a material monument, but that which 
with elevating and perpetuating power connects itself with 
the physical, mental, moral, and spiritual life of its citizens. 

I close with the emphatic words in which the late Gov- 
ernor Bullock characterized the Worcester Institute of In- 
dustrial Science: 

"In the application of elementary mathematics to practical art; in the broad 
department of design and drawing; in facilities for enabling the student to seize 
each happy thought as it crosses his imagination, and to chain it in captivity by 
his own senses and by the agencies of fire, steam, electricity, and all the metals 
which minister in his hands; in mutual comparisons and suggestions among kin- 
dred minds laboring side by side in the common work-shop of nature; in the 
stimulation which shall here be communicated to the illimitable capacity of the 
mind, for modifying, improving, enlarging, intensifying all discoveries yet made 
in the realm of utilized skill and art; in sending forth, one after another, great 
and small, new forms and combinations which shall facilitate and cheapen the 
ways of life, from the work of the engine that traverses the sea, or keeps a 
thousand men and women at work under a single roof, to the humblest cooking 
of a cottage dinner ; in simplifying and saving labor by devising new modes of 
dividing it; in pointing out new uses of economy in the working operations of 
the mechanical forces; wasting less and consuming less without profit; in pro- 
ducing the most benign effects on the moral and social relations by material 
means, raising the standard of comfortable living, increasing the quantity of 
leisure time for mental improvement, and promoting the progress of man in all 
the fields of earthly service and enjoyment — this school and its associate schools 
shall contribute their part in perpetuating the respect and blessing of all wher- 
ever freedom and intelligence exist. " 



17 



II. 

The Board of Trustees desired that the drawings and shop- 
work of the pupils should be examined by gentlemen famil- 
iar with the respective branches of work. Four committees, 
of three members each, were chosen from the architects and 
manufacturers of the city, who were requested to examine 
and report upon the character of the pupils' work. Some 
of the gentlemen selected found it impossible to serve; here 
follow the reports of those who made the examinations: 

REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON DRAWINGS. 

Chicago, June 21, 1886. 
Mr. E. IV. Blalchford, President, Chicago Manual Training School: 

Dear Sir — The undersigned, a Committee selected by your Board of Trus- 
tees, have the honor to present the following report of their examination of 
drawings by the pupils of the Chicago Manual Training School : 

We are pleased to say that our inspection of the productions of work pre- 
sented has been very satisfactory. 

Since our examination of the work on view was expected to be general, we 
can only express ourselves in general terms ; and yet it seems that we should 
particularize somewhat, where drawings are so deservedly meritorious. The 
work of free-hand drawing, and drawing from the round, includes some very 
clever productions, which older draftsmen than those who made them might well 
be proud of. The careful drawing of the locomotives, from actual measure- 
ments, are deserving of attention and praise. There are specimens in mechan- 
ical drawing, both geometrical and perspective, which are admirable, while 
some ol the architectural drawings presented are of superior character. The 
line-drawing of the elevation of a residence, the perspective of another, the 
production of scale-drawings from actual measurements of the Manual Train- 
ing School Building, and the perspective drawings of the same building, all in- 
dicate careful study from careful training. There seemed to be less careless 
handling and poor drawing exhibited, for the number displayed, than is usual 
in older schools and in larger institutions. 

We are pleased to extend our congratulations upon the success so far at- 
tained by your institution, which we hastily visited in detail after the examina- 
tions of the drawings; and we believe the work which you have inaugurated 
here will develop into one of the strong arms of education, and will be a pow- 
erful agent for good in the future, in the development of skilled and educated 
mechanics. 



18 

These schools in the future, we believe, will break down the society lines, 
which all, or most all, building-trade societies have fenced themselves in with, 
and will assist to send out able and skilled artisans in the building trades, re- 
gardless of their laws and edicts, and will also tend so elevate the industrial arts 
to a degree that many a young may be proud to be known as a mechanic. 
Truly yours, 

W. W. BOYINGTON, ) 

J. J. Flanders, > Committee. 
Henry Lord Gay. \ 



REPORT OF COMMITTEE ON WOOD-WORK. 

Chicago, June 24, 1886. 
Mr. E. W. Blatchford, President Board of Trustees, Chicago Manual Training 
School: 
Dear Sir — Responding to the request of Mr. H. H. Belfield, I inspected 
the wood-work of your Junior Class, consisting of turning, sawing, mouldings, 
carving, dovetailing, jointing, framing and construction; and I am pleased to 
bear testimony to the work being a credit both to the pupils and their instruct- 
ors — comparing very favorably with that done by many who profess to be fin- 
ished mechanics ; which goes to show very plainly that the education in the use 
of mechanical tools cannot begin too early in life to make the perfect work- 
man. 

We trust our Board of Education will do all in their power to further the 
interest of our Manual Training School. 

Yours respectfully, E. P. Wilce. 

Committee. 



REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON CASTINGS AND FORCINGS. 

Chicago, June 21, 1886. 
E. W. Blatchford, Esq., President of Board of Trustees, Chicago Manual 
Training School: 

Your Committee, who were requested to examine and report castings, etc., 
made by the pupils in the institution, would respectfully report that we have 
examined various samples of work done, and that we take great pleasure in as- 
suring you that we are agreeably surprised at the evidence of skill manifested 
in the work done. Considering the age of the pupils and the time given to the 
manipulation of tools, the progress is remarkable, and shows great skill and 
aptitude in the forming and shaping of articles from the various metals. 

The pupils are evidently under the instruction of able preceptors, and we 
hope they will not weary in well doing. The "boy makes the man," and we 
think the teachers realize their responsibility. 

Geo. L. Williamson, ) Committee 
Robert Clark, 



19 

REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON MACHINE-SHOP WORK. 

Chicago, June 22, 1886. 
E. IV, Blatchford, Esq., President of Board of Trustees, Chicago Manual 
Training School. 
Dear Sir — We respectfully submit the following report, in accordance with 
request: 

We have examined the machine-shop at the Manual Training School, and 
are much pleased to find that you have a tool-room well and systematically ar- 
ranged with tools, adapted for the work you have in machine-shop. The work 
on taps, dies and milling-cutters seems to be as satisfactory as could be expected, 
and we are much pleased with the samples of chipping that are placed upon 
the same table. 

In referring to the work on the engines that are being constructed, and 
other work that has been completed or is in process, we are not only pleased, 
but a little surprised at having found such marked evidence of skill. Noticing 
an absence of drawings,* we would suggest that all work, of whatever nature, 
passing through the machine-shop, should be made according to detailed draw- 
ings, properly figured, and the importance of following the figure thoroughly 
impressed upon the scholar. Accuracy is the one thing which a hand-workman 
must attain before he can hope for success. 

Frank I. Pearce, \ 

John N. Roche, j- Committee. 

A. Plamondon. \ 



*This absence of drawings is accounted for by the fact that the pupils had been dismissed, 
in order that the Committee might not be interrupted in their examination. All shop-work is 
made from drawings, most of which are made by the pupils. 



20 



III. 

The Following 

EXHIBIT OF PUPILS' WORK 

WAS MADE ON 

Wednesday, June 23, 1886, from 2 to J, and from 7 to g P. M. 



FOURTH FLOOR. 

Room No. II. Drawings; Free-hand, Mechanical and 

Perspective, - - Junior Class. 

Projection and Machine, - Middle Class. 

Machine and Architectural from 

Measurement, - - Senior Class. 

THIRD FLOOR. 
Room No. 9. Drawing Room. No. 10. Senior Class Room. 

SECOND FLOOR. 

Room No. 7. Wood Room; Section of Junior Class at work. 

Room No. 8. Exhibit of Woodwork by - -• Junior Class. 

And of patterns of Steam Engines by - - Middle Class. 
Room No. 6. Exhibit of Castings and Forgings of Iron and 

Steel by - - - - Middle Class. 

FIRST FLOOR. 

Room No. 3. Machine Shop; Section of Senior Class at work, 

Exhibit of Tools, Steam Engines, etc., etc., by Senior Class. 
Room No. 4. Foundry; Section of Middle Class at work. 

BASEMENT. 
Forge Room; Section of Middle Class at work. 



21 



IV. 

The Graduating Exercises of the Class of 1886 were held in the hall of the 
School building, on Thursday, June 24, 1886, at 10 o'clock, A. M., as follows: 

Prayer. 
Rev. Clinton Locke, D. D. 

1. Essay Manual Training. 

Emil H. Seeman. 

2. Essay The Telephone System of Chicago. 

Chas. Locke Etheridge. 

3. Essay The Scientific Basis of Music. 

Gary N. Calkins. 

4. Essay Chicago. 

Charles G. Hawley. 

5. Essay The Gas Engine. 

Herman Schifflin. 

6. Essay Railroads. 

Harley S. Hibbard. 

7. Essay Iron. 

Samuel E. Hitt. 

8 essay \ The Stud y of Languages : 
j with valedictory addresses. 

Albert Scheible. 



PRESENTATION OF DIPLOMAS. 
H. H. Belfield, Director. 



AWARD OF PRIZES, 
E. W. Blatchford, President of Board of Trustees. 

BENEDICTION. 



22 



Prizes were awarded as follows: 

For the highest degree of excellence in Scholarship, Drawing, Shop-work and 
Deportment, during the entire course, to 

Albert Scheible. 



For excellence in Scholarship : 

Junior Class, -'-.--;- Paul Synnestvedt. 

Middle Class, Walton Forstall. 

Senior Class, Albert Scheible. 

For excellence in Drawing : 

Junior Class, - Arthur H. Woodward. 

, T . , j, ~, \ Raymond A. Beck. 

M,ddle Class, - - j Winthrop K. Howe. 

Senior Class, ------ Henry H. Wait. 

For excellence in Shop-work : 

Junior Class, - - - - - , Carl M. Gottfried. 

Middle Class, ----- Winthrop K. Howe. 

Senior Class, - Moritz W. Boehm. 



23 



V. 



CLASS OF 1886. 



Moritz William Boehm. 
Stuart Dunlevy Boynton. 
Gary Nathan Calkins. 
Allan Montgomery Clement. 
Charles Locke Etheridge. 
William Henry Fahrney. 
Samuel Douglas Flood. 
Arthur Dewey Hall. 
Philip Harvey. 
Charles William Hawkes. 
Charles Gilbert Hawley. 
John Porter Heywood. 
Harley Seymour Hibbard. 



Samuel Edward Hitt. 
Elbridge Byron Keith. 
Henry William Klare. 
Robert Allan Lackey. 
Joseph Dixon Lewis. 
James Stuart McDonald, Jr. 
Charles Messer. 
William Otis Moody. 
Ovington Ross. 
Albert Scheible. 
Herman Schifflin. 
Emil Henry Seeman. 
Henry Heileman Wait. 



Oliver Johnson Westcott. 



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